(CelebrityAccess News Service) – The state of the U.S. music industry according to Nielsen SoundScan: through December 21:
* The week ending September 14, 2003 showed a dramatic change in the trend
of 2003 album sales to date compared to 2002. Prior to the week ending
September 14th, 2003, album sales declined 34 out of 36 weeks compared to
2002 and down 8.4% from the previous year. After the week ending September
14, 2003 weekly album sales scored an increase in 11 of 15 weeks compared to
2002, rebounding 2003 YTD sales to be off only 2.2% compared to 2002.
* This year to date, overall music sales are down just 2.2% including
digitally downloaded "track" sales (digital track sales only started
reporting on July 2, 2003). Excluding digital track sales, overall music
sales are down 4.6% in 2003, compared to a drop of 13.2% in 2002 YTD.
* There have been 17.5 million digital tracks purchased through the paid
services (iTunes, Napster, Musicmatch, Rhapsody, MusicNet, MusicNow, Liquid
Digital Media and Buymusic), since Nielsen SoundScan began reporting legal
downloads on July 2, 2003. More than 1.4 million tracks were downloaded
this week (week ending 12/21/03).
* This week (week ending 12/21/03), sales increased by 31.2% over last week
of the Top 200 albums.
* CD album sales – that represent 96% of all album sales – are down just
2.9% vs. 9.2% YTD 2002.
* All album sales are down 4.6% vs. 11.2% last year, YTD.
* Cassette albums continue its decline with sales down 40.2%.
* Single sales have dropped only 4.5%, compared to a drop of 61.4% last
year.
* Music video sales continue to climb with sales up 75.7% over 2002 (16.4
mil vs. 9.3 mil). This increase is primarily due to the boom in DVD sales.
DVD video sales have increased 102.4% over 2002 (17.2 mil. vs. 8.5 mil.). –Jane Cohen and Bob Grossweiner
2003 Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen BDS Year-End Industry Figures Released & 50 Cent Tops Album Charts in 2003
(CelebrityAccess News Service) – Nielsen SoundScan:, the entertainment industry's data information system that tracks point-of-purchase sales of recorded music product, and Nielsen BDS, the music industry’s leading song monitoring service, have released its 2003 year end sales and airplay monitoring data through December 28, 2003. Among its findings are:
· The overall music business is down 0.8% units sold as compared to 2002;
· Overall album sales are down 3.6% as compared to 2002;
· CD album sales, which comprise 96% of all music sales, are down 2% as compared to 2002;
· 19.2 million digital tracks have been sold since June 29, 2003;
· Overall album sales were up 20% in the last reporting week of 2003 as compared to 2002;
· In December 2003, overall album sales were up 5% as compared to December 2002;
· In December 2003, CD album sales were up 6.1% as compared to December 2002;
· Fourth quarter 2003 overall music business is up 10.5% as compared to fourth quarter 2002;
· Fourth quarter 2003 CD album sales were up 5.6% as compared to fourth quarter 2002;
· Fourth quarter 2003 overall album sales were up 4.3% as compared to fourth quarter 2002;
· Overall music video 2003 sales were up 78.5% as compared to 2002;
· DVD music video 2003 sales were up 104.5% as compared to 2002;
· Single 2003 sales were down 4% as compared to 2002;
· Alternative, jazz and latin 2003 album sales were up over sales in 2002; and
· Cassette album 2003 sales were down 39.8% as compared to 2002.
2003 Top 10 Selling Albums (01/01/2003-12/28/2003):
Title / Artist Units Sold
1. Get Rich or Die Tryin’ / 50 Cent 6,535,809
2. Come Away with Me / Norah Jones 5,137,468
3. Meteora / Linkin Park 3,478,361
4. Fallen / Evanescence 3,364,738
5. Speakerboxx-Love / Outkast 3,089,849
6. Dangerously In Love / Beyonce 2,527,485
7. Chocolate Factory / R.Kelly 2,439,536
8. Metamorphosis / Hilary Duff 2,405,544
9. Shock N Y’All/ Toby Keith 2,324,437
10. Rush Of Blood to the Head/Coldplay 2,183,997
Top 10 Selling Albums of SoundScan Era (1991 – 12/28/2003):
Title / Artist Units Sold
1. Come on Over / Shania Twain 14,896,911
2. Jagged Little Pill / Alanis Morisette 14,200,822
3. Metallica / Metallica 13,803,308
4. Millennium / Backstreet Boys 12,056,675
5. Bodyguard / Soundtrack 11,741,779
6. Supernatural / Santana 11,333,627
7. Human Clay / Creed 11,291,067
8. No Strings Attached / N Sync 11,069,789
9. Falling Into You / Celine Dion 10,614,005
10. Baby One More Time / Britney Spears 10,472,878
Overall Music Sales – Units Sold (in millions)–01/01/03-12/28/03:
2003 2002
687 693
Total CD Album Sales (Includes Catalog and Current Titles (in millions)(01/01/03-12-28/03):
2003 2002
635.8 649.5
Current vs. Catalog Albums (in millions) (01/01/03-12/28/03):
2003 2002
Current 423.9 429.6
Catalog 232.3 251.2
Deep Catalog 165.9 176.8
Digital Tracks Sales (in millions) (06/29/03-12/28/03):
Current 19.2
2003 Genre Album Sales Report (in millions) (01/01/03-12/28/03)
Genre 2003 2002
Alternative 128,375 126,375
Classical 18,853 21,527
Country 69,311 76,905
Jazz 23,060 22,642
Latin 27,401 23,742
Metal 73,816 74,677
R&B 150,789 161,927
Rap 77,162 84,553
Christian/Gospel 47,083 49,664
Soundtrack 32,623 36,817
New Age 5,662 7,145
(Note: Titles may appear in more than one genre)
Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems (Nielsen BDS), the music industry’s leading song monitoring service, has released its list of the most played songs at radio for 2003.
Song Title Artist Label Detections
1. When I'm Gone 3 Doors Down Republic/Universal 393679
2. In Da Club 50 Cent Interscope 359604
3. Bring Me To Life Evanescence Wind-Up 354390
4. Unwell Matchbox Twenty Atlantic 339215
5. Ignition R. Kelly Jive 318527
6. Get Busy Sean Paul Atlantic 275540
7. Crazy In Love Beyonce Columbia 267729
8. Shake Ya Tailfeather Nelly, P. Diddy & Murphy Lee
Bad Boy/Universal 260231
9. Headstrong Trapt Warner Bros . 258523
10. I'm With You Avril Lavigne Arista 258512
— Jane Cohen and Bob Grossweiner
